Another Sunday and another
disappointing loss for the Browns. What can be said that hasn’t been said before?
No running game, inconsistent quarterback play, special teams that aren’t, and
an attacking defense that spends too much time on the field.
This is the blog of novelist, teacher, coach, and reviewer Greg Cielec. For more info about Greg and his work visit www.gregcielec.com All text and photos copyrighted by Greg Cielec, and may not be used or copied onto a commercial website or publication without his permission. Many of these reviews and articles originally appeared in various publications and websites. Greg can be contacted at cielec@hotmail.com or 216.496.8286.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
View From the Dawg Pound, Game 11
Monday, November 18, 2013
View From the Dawg Pound, Game 10
Well, the best thing that happened
is that we did not go to the game. We had traveled to Nashville on Friday to
see the Vanderbilt/Kentucky game Saturday afternoon, and our plans were to get
up early Sunday and get to Cincinnati in enough time to buy some tickets on the
street and see the Browns/Bengals game. We did leave Nashville early on Sunday
morning, but we hit terrible wind and rain and it took longer than we thought
to get to Cinci. Also, none of the three of us had brought enough rain gear to
comfortably survive the storm, so we quickly decided instead to watch the game
with the Greater Cincinnati Browns Backers in a place called Slatt’s in Blue
Ash, fifteen miles north of downtown. The weather remained terrible and the
Browns played worse, so it ended up being a good decision.
The first notes I wrote down about
the game were that Jason Campbell looked shakey, and the defense looked good. I
think that pretty much sums up the game, although I don’t blame Campbell as
much as others. It is quite obvious that the Browns don’t have a solid running
game, and as long as defensive coordinators know this the Browns are going to
have trouble on offense. And Campbell is not going to look good.
The Cincinnati Browns Backers were
an older crowd compared to the Charlotte Browns Backers who we did a game with
earlier in the season. Charlotte’s Browns Backers were mostly young
professionals in the twenties and early thirties who grew up in Northern Ohio.
Cincinnati’s Browns Backers were old school, many of them coming from families
who were Browns fans back in the day when there weren’t even Bengals.
I was surprised to see so many of
them at the sports bar considering the Browns were playing in town. However, I
heard the same thing over and over again, that Paul Brown Stadium was an
expensive and not very friendly place to see a game. Seats that go for $45-$50
in our end zones in Cleveland go for $85 in Paul Browns Stadium. And most of them never really
understood all that “Who Day?” stuff that goes on at the games. I know I’ve
been there for three Browns/Bengals games over the years and it does get old
fast.
The sports radio shows on the way
home covered the obvious. The Browns should have gotten touchdowns instead of
field goals early in the game, and very easily could have been leading 21-0 at
the end of the quarter.
And, of course, the second quarter
brought disaster. Fumbles, interceptions, two blocked punts, and 31 unanswered
points on the board. It really took the life out of the crowd at Slatts, who
were enjoying the game until then.
But what hasn’t been mentioned in
the media, was the times in the second half were the Browns could have gotten
back in the game. The Browns got down to the Bengals 34 yard line on the first
drive of the second half and were stopped. The second drive Josh Gordon makes a
great catch and the game is suddenly 31-20. The hold the Bengals and make them punt, but on the next
drive Campbell throws a pick on the third play. The Browns hold them again, but
go three and out themselves. The Bengals then get another touchdown to make it
38-20 and put the Browns away going into the fourth quarter.
The Browns had three chances to
make it a one score game after Gordon’s touchdown at the beginning of the
second half and couldn’t do anything. As bad as the second quarter was, they
still had a chance until the Bengals scored a six at the very end of the
quarter.
Next week we are back at home
against the Steelers. The Browns know what mistakes they have to eliminate from
their game, but the Steelers will know that the Browns are weak at the run and
will be sending all sorts of stunts and blitzes at Jason Campbell.
When I look back on my football
weekend in Nashville and Cincinnati, I think of something that happened late
Saturday afternoon after the Vanderbilt/Kentucky game. We were hanging out in
the live music bars on Broadway in downtown Nashville and were inundated with
Chicago Blackhawk fans, because the Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks were
playing the Predators that night up the street in the Bridgestone Center. There
had to be, and I am not exaggerating, thousands of Blackhawk fans in the bars
and on the street. Everywhere you looked you saw Blackhawk uniforms. The
Nashville paper the next day estimated there were over 5,000 Blackhawk fans at
the game, over 25% of capacity of the arena. That many fans traveled over seven
hundred miles to see their team play. I then I said to my self, that is what
happens when you win championships.
Greg Cielec (cielec@hotmail.com)
Section 120, Row B, Seats ¾
Photos by Dave Hostetler
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Kentucky at Vandy in Nashville 11.16.2013
Our 2013 Football tour continued to Nashville for the Vandy/Kentucky game. Another great time was had by all, special thanks to the Ally Martin and the Vandy cheerleaders. Photos by Dave Hostetler.
Monday, November 4, 2013
View From the Dawg Pound, Week 9
On a beautiful
late fall day, in front of an enthusiastic crowd dressed in their best orange
and brown, the Browns played like the Browns of old and defeated the Baltimore
Ravens 24-18.
The Browns did
what they hadn’t done all year, scoring first and holding the lead until the
final whistle. On offense there were plenty of heroes, including quarterback
Jason Campbell who went 23 out of 35 for 262 yards, for 3 touchdowns and no
interceptions; Devon Bess making up for last week with 2 touchdown catches; and
Greg Little having his best day as a pro with 7 catches for 122 yards.
Campbell made
some great plays when they were needed on the Browns last drive. He scrambled
and then ran for 12 yards and a first down on a third and 3 play, then later in
the drive scrambled then threw a little flip pass to Chris Ogbonnaya for another first down. Both plays kept the drive going that
lead to the Browns’ last field, but more importantly took time off the clock
and kept the ball out of the Ravens’ hands.
Josh Gordon and Greg Little both continue to show
how good they possibly could be. Little especially had a terrific game against
the Ravens, but still showed his immature side that still hasn’t completely
gone away. He was flagged for two personal fouls. The first was a bad call when
he got shoved to the ground by a Raven defender. However, the second was all
his fault as he taunted the same defender later in the game. The sky is the
limit for this kid; let’s hope he makes it.
The defense was
lead by defensive back Chris Owens with nine tackles, and linebackers D’Qwell
Jackson, Craig Robinson, and Paul Krueger had solid games. The Browns pressured
Joe Flacco all day, finishing with 5 sacks from 5 different players. The only
real negatives on the defensive side of the ball were giving up a 46-yard pass
completion that allowed a Ravens touchdown with :09 left in the half. The
Browns looked confused on the play, as well as on the scoring play. And
allowing a two-point conversion after the last Raven touchdown, that got the
Ravens within a field goal in the fourth quarter.
The Browns
special teams, especially their punt return team, miss Travis Benjamin. The
field goal team had a major snafu when they decided to pooch punt instead of
attempting a 51-yard field goal. The punt was a good one, but the team failed
to down the ball before it rolled into the end zone for a touchback, resulting
in a net 14-yard punt.
From our seats in the Dawg Pound we had great
views of more than a few big plays, including several of Little catches and two
of Campbell’s touchdown passes. What about Joe Haden’s interception? It was a
total effort by the complete defensive backfield.
There is a saying that running backs and receivers
use when they make a cut in open field to cause a defender to fall down,
“breaking his ankles.” That is exactly what Davone Bess did to a Ravens
defensive back on his second touchdown. To me, it was the best play of the
game.
The worst play of the game was not by the Browns
or the Ravens, but the fans in the stands. Brandon Weedon came in for several
plays and the boo birds returned. I know he has been a disappointment as a
starter, but he is still a Cleveland Brown and I was there a month ago when he
came off the bench and took over the Bills game for a 37-24 victory, after
being down 10 points in the first quarter. Grow up people.
Two other highlights of the afternoon for me had
little to do with the Browns. After they did recover a muffed punt on the
Ravens 11 yard line, it was great to see the often raved about Ravens defense
go through a period of confusion that allowed the Browns to score a touchdown. They
were clueless in the three plays it took the Browns to score. Gosh, was that
good to see. That was only topped by catching the end of the Steelers game
after the Browns game was over. The Patriots were scoring at will, Big Ben was
running for his life, and the Steelers coaching staff didn’t have an answer for
any of it.
Final Notes…Dave
Sefchik is a life long Browns fan who hosts a great tailgate party every game
day in one of the public lots in the Flats near the Flat Iron Café. His parties
revolve around “The Vessell,” a converted delivery truck that he turned into a
mini Browns museum. On November 24 before the Steelers game “The Vessell” will
be hosting former Browns kicker Don Cockroft who will be selling and
autographing copies of his book “The 1980 Kardiac Kids.” Dave says everyone is
invited.
If you need a
live football fix this week with the Browns bye, there is plenty of great
football going on all around Ohio. In all corners of the state it will be the
first round of the state high school football playoffs. In northern Ohio there
are some great local college football games. This Saturday 6-2 Baldwin Wallace
visits undefeated Mount Union, while undefeated John Carroll hosts 7-1
Heidelberg College. Next week JCU hosts Mount, while BW hosts the ‘Berg. Two of
those four teams will make the National DIII Playoffs. If you check out any of
these games you won’t be disappointed.
Enjoy the bye week;
see you in Cinci in two weeks.
Text by Greg
Cielec
Photos by Dave
Hostetler
Section 120, Row
B, Seats 3 and 4.
Vanderbilt at Texas A&M, 26 October 2013
Our Fall '13 Football Tour continued to College Station where we had big fun. Special thanks to the Vandy cheerleaders and all the great, friendly people we met in Texas.
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